This application is based on applications Nos. 4292/1997 and 21410/1997 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an ink cartridge, used for supplying ink to a recording head in an ink jet recorder, and to an ink supplying apparatus using the ink cartridge, and more particularly, to an ink cartridge which is capable of stably supplying ink, contained in its cartridge body, to a recording head via a supply port and a supply pipe, which are provided in the cartridge body, as well as preventing the ink from independently leaking through the supply port and the supply pipe, and to an ink supplying apparatus using the ink cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an ink jet recorder has been so adapted as to supply ink to a recording head from an ink supplying apparatus and to eject the ink from the recording head to make a recording.
In supplying the ink to the recording head from the ink supplying apparatus, an ink cartridge, containing ink in its cartridge body, is generally mounted on a mounting section, provided in an apparatus body of the ink supplying apparatus, to supply the ink contained in the ink cartridge to the recording head via the supply port, provided in the cartridge body, and through the apparatus body.
Conventionally in thus supplying the ink to the recording head from the supply port, provided in the cartridge body, through the apparatus body, a holding member, such as a sponge for holding the ink, has been generally contained in the cartridge body, to supply the ink held in the holding member to the apparatus body via the supply port and to introduce the ink to the recording head.
In thus supplying the ink, held in the holding member, to the apparatus body via the supply port and introducing the ink to the recording head, when the supply port is made large, the ink is sufficiently introduced into the recording head. In cases such as a case where the ink cartridge is removed from the mounting section in the apparatus body, however, the ink held in the holding member leaks out of the supply port.
On the other hand, when the supply port is made small in order to prevent the ink from leaking, the ink is not sufficiently introduced into the recording head in a case where printing is continuously done and in a case where purging is performed, so that stable recording cannot be made.
In recent years, an ink supplying apparatus has been developed which is so adapted that in introducing ink into a recording head from a containing section, for containing the ink, via a supply port, a sealing member made of rubber is pressed against a portion of the supply port by a compression spring to close the supply port, thereby preventing the ink contained in the containing section from leaking out of the supply port, as disclosed in JP-A-7-17049.
However, there are some problems. For example, it is extremely difficult to thus provide the compression spring in the vicinity of the supply port to close the supply port by the sealing member, the fabricating cost of an ink cartridge is high, and the ink contained in the containing section cannot be sufficiently prevented from leaking out of the supply port.
Conventional examples include an ink supplying apparatus so adapted that an ink cartridge, provided with a supply pipe in a portion of a supply port provided in its cartridge body, is mounted on a mounting section provided in its apparatus body, to introduce ink into a guide path, provided in the apparatus body, via the supply pipe and to supply the ink to a recording head via the guide path.
When the ink cartridge is thus mounted on the mounting section in the apparatus body, to supply the ink to the guide path from the supply pipe, air enters the guide path; the air thus entering the guide path is changed into air bubbles; and the air bubbles are introduced into the recording head, so that the recording head is clogged with the air bubbles. Therefore, the ink is not satisfactorily ejected from the recording head, resulting in insufficient printing, for example.
Furthermore, in cases such as a case where the ink cartridge, mounted on the mounting section in the apparatus body as described above, is removed, the ink remaining in a portion of the supply pipe spills.